


OTF (One True Fandom) [Meta]

by osteophage



Category: Fandom - Fandom
Genre: Criticism, Gen, Meta, Nonfiction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-19
Updated: 2020-06-19
Packaged: 2021-03-04 04:33:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,833
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24797737
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/osteophage/pseuds/osteophage
Summary: Metacommentary on essentializing rhetoric about "fandom" as a concept.
Comments: 5
Kudos: 5
Collections: March Meta Matters Challenge





	OTF (One True Fandom) [Meta]

**Author's Note:**

> Originally posted to [Pillowfort](https://www.pillowfort.social/posts/1434793). See the original post's comment section for further discussion.

[By request](https://www.pillowfort.social/posts/1246162?page=1&comment=592243): some reflections on "fandom" as a concept & some sources of personal alienation from how people talk about it.

Ostensibly, "fandom" (as a term) just refers to fan communities and networks, as a portmanteau of "fan" and "-dom," as in "kingdom." That's one of its broader applications. But in practice, the way that people use the term can get a lot more... particular. Sometimes _very_ particular. For my purposes here, I am referring to this as the One True Fandom framework, riffing off of the term OTP (or ["one true pairing"](https://fanlore.org/wiki/One_True_Pairing)). In borrowing the "one true" language here, I'm attempting to zero in on a certain way that "fandom" gets talked about, celebrated, and essentialized according to a supposed one true way.

Note that what I'm going to get into here entails some intentional criticism intertwined with personal reflection, but the two are not the same thing, and I'll try to clearly signal which is which. Although some of this may be a bummer to read regardless, where it could get really uncomfortable for the both of us is if you misinterpret a description of my own preferences as an attack on yours. I'll try to avoid that by making the two different kinds of points possible to distinguish, and you can help me out by paying attention to which is which.

The OTF framework that I'm talking about here can be identified by four main attributes: 1) speaking of "fandom" through a certain (homogenizing) lens, where 2) everybody loves fanfiction, because 3) fanfiction is good, within a framework that emphasizes 4) the subversive potential of "transformative" works over all other kinds of fan activity. 

#### Fandom Through a Certain (Homogenizing) Lens

One of the foundational things I'm getting at here is using the word "fandom" itself in a particular way. I don't mean to treat this itself as completely consistent across the board, of course -- different people will do it in different ways, and they're not necessarily all in sync with each other. What I'm getting at here is just any treatment of "fandom" as a topic where 1) the term "fandom" (singular) is used in a very all-encompassing way, 2) to highlight panfandom consistency. I will give you two examples here in a minute.

The first feature is pretty easily identifiable: "fandom" in the broad-strokes singular -- united, unspecified, and undifferentiated. Grammatically, this means using the word "fandom" as a mass noun, as opposed to a countable noun (like "a fandom" or multiple "fandoms," plural). In its context, this also means talking about "fandom" in very general terms, without specifying _which one_. So instead of naming a given fandom by object of interest (ex. "Machineries of Empire fandom," "science fiction fans," etc.), fandom-as-mass-noun lumps all fan activity together as a collective.

The second feature, emphasizing panfandom consistency, is a little more amorphous, so allow me to explain. Think of it like the sentence-level parallel to fandom-as-mass-noun: There is one thing that Fandom Is and there is one thing that Fandom Does. It's all about that internal homogeneity, consistency, or continuity. In some cases this way of talking may describe/justify in-group loyalty, cast "fandom" as a victim of outside threats (to "fandom" itself), assert some grand truth about the nature of fandom, or convey a very distinct sense of an "us"/in-group than can be spoken for as a collective.

To see what that actually looks like in practice, take a look at the following examples.

In [The Fandom Divide: Nation & Cultural Citizenship](https://www.pillowfort.social/posts/193755), "fandom" is discussed in terms of "citizenship" and nationality, arguing for a view of fandom as a nation.

> Seeing fandom as a nation is pivotal to understanding that fandom's reaction to intruders is not the behaviour of spoiled children acting up because they do not like people taking their toys. No, fandom's anger is the rightful anger of a people, citizens of the fandom nation, dealing with border skirmishes. [...] Fans do not need a geography for fandom to feel like theirs. Their literature, their identity, their space. Their nation.

This essay demonstrates both of those features described above: this broadly-encompassing treatment of "fandom" (as a mass noun, unspecified) and an angle on the subject that heavily emphasizes internal consistency. Note the moral framing here affirming "the rightful anger of a people" (and drawing on the presumed legitimacy of nationhood as a way to do that).

In [This Vagabond Fandom Life](https://telesilla.tumblr.com/post/180772321342/this-vagabond-fandom-life), the argument demonstrates these two features as well. The word "fandom" is used as a very general mass noun here, and although it is, technically, specified further than that, it's specified not by property/genre/topic, but by _form of engagement._

> The first thing you have to understand is that no one wants us. No one has ever wanted us. And by us I don't mean fans in general, but creative Fandom, if you will. Transformative fandom – writers and artists and gif makers and vidders and podcasters and podficcers and the community that supports them.

Transformative engagement, according to this poster, is the nature of captial-f Fandom. Note how discussion, reviews, reaction blogging, and analytical pursuits (or, heck, even communal [squee](https://fanlore.org/wiki/Squee)) do not make the cut, cleaved off as categorically outside the frame.

The emphasis on consistency and continuity is also in full force here. In this particular example, the narrative casts Fandom as a poor beleaguered vagabond who must wander from place to place, unheard and unwanted -- spoken of as a "we" which refers to both a specific person and The Whole Of Fandom, Together.

Also just for kicks I want to highlight this bit:

> So that leaves us as exactly what we are: extreme niche hobbyists. And you know what? We’re not even nice, easy, safe, niche hobbyists like knitters...

Shoutout to Duke and TJ here -- I figure the folks aware of the [theatric heights](https://www.pillowfort.social/posts/1128748) of [yarn drama](https://www.pillowfort.social/posts/1241315) (featuring everything from [copyright infringement](https://www.pillowfort.social/posts/1130441) to [faking one's own death](https://www.pillowfort.social/posts/1144947)) will be, hm, amused. 

I'm pointing that out both because I think it's funny and because (in context) it's a piece of this much larger narrative which casts capital-f Fandom as especially unique compared to other hobbies -- as misunderstood, intense, "transgressive," and so on. Stick a pin in that thought, because you're going to be seeing it again.

#### On the Pervasive, Universalized Passion for Fanfiction

In the section above, I noted where one of the people I was quoting from defined capital-f Fandom in terms of ["transformative"](https://fanlore.org/wiki/Transformative_Work) fan activity -- a category which undoubtedly includes fanfiction as a prototypical example of the type. In this section, I'm talking about fanfiction in particular as an object of enthusiasm and the ways in which that gets (over)generalized. Some of these examples are clearly just talking in terms of personal preference and emotional expression, so I'm going to respond here in kind, for as long as that lasts.

When I encounter [a post like this](https://brawltogethernow.tumblr.com/post/186474405400/fanfiction-is-so-wild-cause-im-likeugh-im-not), for instance -- talking about reading fanfiction as a safer/guaranteed "return on investment" -- I have to figure that the two of us are just very different people with very different experiences, because that's the complete opposite of my own perspective. For me, fanfiction feels like _more_ of a risk than original works, not less. Finding good stuff is difficult regardless, but the extra challenge of fanfiction is that I have to trust it not to _mess up_ what appealed to me about the source material, and really, do I look like I have the energy for that? Do I look like I can trust like that right now? I'd rather browse some options that don't risk as many ways to disappoint me.

Luckily, though, other people liking things doesn't mean that I have to. And when someone, say, expresses enthusiastic excitement about finding a work of fanfiction that [(supposedly) portrays the characters better than the canon](https://imaredshirt.tumblr.com/post/190747384754/that-feeling-tho-when-you-find-that-fic-writer), I'm... confused, and I can't say I've ever been there before, but hey, I'm glad they're having fun. Even if it is kind of personally alienating to hear about this kind of thing on the regular and not be able to get into it, yourself.

Where this becomes a problem is when the enthusiasm for fanfiction gets overgeneralized into a universal truth. In [this example](https://bangbangbeefkeef.tumblr.com/post/189209387123/i-feel-so-attacked-right-now), a user jokes that "I don't really read anymore" is code for "I actually read a lot of gay fanfiction on AO3 but I refuse to tell you that." This post was a suckerpunch to encounter because "I don't really read anymore" sounds like something I myself would say, and here the joke involves 1) saying that people who say that shouldn't be taken at their word, and 2) overgeneralizing the appeal of reading fanfiction, which irks me as someone who is usually bored by fanfiction and consequently hasn't read very much of it. 

But, I mean, it's fine. It's fine. Nobody is saying that fanfiction is inherently good or anything. Right?

#### Essentializing Fanfiction As Inherently Good

Where the enthusiasm for fanfiction dovetails with sweeping statements about the nature of fandom, you have some fans centering fanfiction as 1) what (all) fans do/want, and/or 2) something categorically nuanced, respectful, or high in quality.

In some cases, fanfiction is positioned as a potential response when the canon material brings disappointment. Taking issue with canon is a motivation that I can relate to -- as a motivation for writing rants, commiserating with other fans, debating the particulars, and composing metacommentary. So it's a little alienating for someone to name [the natural outcome of unhappy fans as just... fanfiction](https://www.pillowfort.social/posts/876036), or position [the primary solution or source of emotional resolution there as just... fanfiction](https://oysters-aint-for-me.tumblr.com/post/186801253548). 

But, I mean, again, that's fine. Maybe that's just how it works for some (thousands of) people. Nobody's treating that as a truth universally acknowledged or anything, except when they are in fact [calling that a truth universally acknowledged](https://ao3commentoftheday.tumblr.com/post/611570593296465920). 

That's all jokes, mostly. I get the concept of jokes.

Where it really gets annoying is when people run their mouths in the direction of declaring fanfiction _inherently good_ \-- as [nuanced](https://rabbitindisguise.tumblr.com/post/188959490583/on-fanfic-emotional-continuity), as [salvific](https://twitter.com/StevieFinegan/status/1163194636451700739), as [better and more satisfying than anything else](https://claireclaymore.tumblr.com/post/184641386696/bigsnakediscourse-bigstarkenergy).

In other instances, fanfiction is accorded a special place not just in terms of assumed-universal appeal but also in narrowly deliminating the potential space for insight, objections, and criticism. Within a One True Fandom framework, this is consistently the only way that people talk about being critical of canon: via improving on it through fanfiction. Fanfiction is positioned as more insightful than published works, [as "having the space to ask" things that the canon cannot](https://www.pillowfort.social/posts/860343) \-- as if it's not _possible_ for those published works to subvert tropes, challenge genre conventions, or demonstrate critical thinking. 

I've even seen people assert that ["fanfic as a whole humanizes queer relationships more than almost any other form of storytelling."](https://well-schitt.tumblr.com/post/187809745657/reminder-that-fanfic-as-a-whole-humanizes-queer) There's apparently no end to the things that people will give it credit for. And unfortunately, for some, this appears to be intertwined with the whole notion of "transformative" fandom itself.

#### The Acquisitive/Curative vs. Creative/Transformative Divide

In the sections above, I noted some cases where capital-f Fandom is described as categorically "transgressive" and where "transformative" fanworks (especially fanfiction) are discussed as uniquely good, both in terms of entertainment and ideology. If you are familiar with this kind of talk, then you may have already encountered it within the talk of the "curative" vs. "transformative" fandom divide.

This distinction appears to have followed an unfortunate trajectory, starting out as a worthwhile observation that became warped into unnecessary binary essentialism. From what I can tell, the concept seems to have been popularized on Tumblr via a June 2014 Tumblr post entitled [Fandom Thoughts](https://fozmeadows.tumblr.com/post/89576778116/fandom-thoughts), in which the user fozmeadows makes a case about fandom misogyny: that which fan activities are treated as the most (il)legitimate maps to which activites are most closely associated with men or women.

[A subsequent post](https://scifigrl47.tumblr.com/post/98162324651/gingerjuju-i-just-dont-understand-where-this) by user scifigrl47 took this argument in a more essentialist direction. While the first post just talked about some activities being "coded as masculine," this later post summarized that argument by making assertions as to the general nature of "male fandom" (curative) and "female fandom" (creative) as two entirely different beasts, on "opposite poles." By 2018, this framework has become so pervasive on the site that it became necessary for some users [to point out that it's a false binary](https://paradife-loft.tumblr.com/post/170026178679/not-to-be-petty-but-the-divide-between).

One of the key things to note about this framework (in its warped form) isn't just the "boys vs. girls" fixation or massive oversimplications, but also the way it categorically politicizes "transformative" works as unique in their capacity to be critical and subversive. Going back to that scifigrl47 post, you can see this where she wrote:

> Female fandom ALTERS canon, for the simple reason that canon does not serve female fandom. In order for it to fit the 'outsider' (female, queer, POC), the canon must be attacked and rebuilt, and that takes creation.

This emphasizes the capacity for fanfiction to be feminist, queer, and antiracist, but it also does more than that. After setting up canon as something that (inherently) "does not serve female fandom," the author asserts that the canon must be "attacked and rebuilt" via "creation." This is presented as the _only_ way for fandoms to address sexism, hetero/cissexism, and racism at all.

#### OTF, In Sum

These are the things I mean by the One True Fandom framework. It groups every single fandom together under the banner of undifferentiated "fandom," singular, as a collective mass noun. It enthuses about "transformative" fanworks, especially fanfiction. It treats fanficiton as universally loved by fans. It treats fanfiction as inherently good and uniquely subversive. It treats fanfiction as the only way for fans to be critical of canon at all.

It is alienating, insipid, and utterly suffocating. 

And for the longest time, this happened to be exactly the kind of talk that I associated with AO3.

#### How OTF Has Influenced My View of AO3 (& What Changed)

Since AO3 is largely geared toward hosting fanfiction, and since the people who speak of One True Fandom tend to be big supporters of AO3, the site itself has (for me) taken on these associations. After all, AO3 is a site for hosting "fanworks," especially the "transformative" ones, and we all know what that means. It means narrative fiction/prose, with some occasional exceptions. Not discussion, not metacommentary, not reviews, not analysis or breakdowns or critique or any of the things that I myself prefer to read or write or engage with. So while I'm not particularly fussed about the concept of "true fans" or whatever, I did pretty clearly get the impression that, cuturally, the place was... not for me. It belongs to OTF, and OTF and I don't really get along.

Archive of Our Own? More like Archive of Their Own.

Until. Until I found out that not only is metacommentary allowed on AO3, there are actually other people who value it enough to want it archived there. I could hardly believe my eyes when [the announcement](https://www.pillowfort.social/posts/1052400) for the [March Meta Matters Challenge](https://archiveofourown.org/collections/March_Meta_Matters_Challenge/) appeared on my Pillowfort feed. It wasn't just that it was technically allowed according to the rules -- I was shocked that the people who use AO3 actually overlapped with the people who value text-based fanworks _other than_ fanfiction, enough to [want to see them _saved and preserved_](https://www.pillowfort.social/posts/1062373). Now with the MMMC, suddenly I had a reason to start thinking of some of my meticulous ramblings as "fanworks" actually worthy of being archived, on a site that had previously felt like foreign territory. 

I was skeptical, of course, but to my surprise, the first few works I posted for the challenge _did_ get hits, and kudos, and even _comments._

This surprised me because OTF would have me believe that AO3 is all theirs -- that on a beloved site of theirs that's focused on hosting "fanworks," my contributions would not be seen as worth anyone's while. But as it turns out, there isspace for meta on AO3, and like it or not, I get to have a little piece of their Archive for myself now, too. 

In closing, an honorable mention to some good and relateable posts:

  * ["So, a thing i've noticed everytime that i've talked here about queer fandom is that everyone reads it as 'queer fic.'"](https://www.pillowfort.social/posts/179192)
  * ["](http://%20https://www.pillowfort.social/posts/763438)["I really really really wish we stopped pitting traditionally published fiction against fan fiction. No good will ever come out of that."](https://www.pillowfort.social/posts/763438)
  * ["Stop pretending transformative fandom is somehow inherently superior."](http://www.shinelikethunder.blog/post/182790143236/this-blog-is-friendly-to-curatorial-modes-of)
  * (re: [guiltyhipster's post](https://claireclaymore.tumblr.com/post/184641386696/bigsnakediscourse-bigstarkenergy)) ["amazing, I cannot relate to this any less"](https://queermachmir.tumblr.com/post/188566332754)
  * ["please do not universalize your view of fanfic as some last bastion of good writing"](https://sennkestra.tumblr.com/post/188807982881)
  * ["#my wants are simple #but my dislikes are many and complex"](https://coldwind-shiningstars.tumblr.com/post/190924679640/livrelady-veliseraptor-i-am-a-simple-person)
  * ["can i just acknowledge briefly how much easier having a comprehensive wiki and unofficial transcripts makes writing fic and meta?"](https://stardust-inthe-wind.tumblr.com/post/190800103355/thank-you-to-the-people-who-make-the-pages-on-each)
  * ["i almost never see pokemon discussed in terms of general fandom/big fandom? [...] so much discussion around fandom is centered around fic it just gets left out."](https://www.pillowfort.social/posts/1016540)
  * ["Sometimes... things that are widely accepted fanon... are worse."](https://gothammite.tumblr.com/post/183317050341/i-have-something-to-say)




End file.
